Projects Summary

This section is intended to be a brief description of our projects for academic year 2017-18. For more detail on partner schools/organizations at which the projects were executed, please click on the paragraph headline links below. For simplicity, project grants are quoted in USD, though a given project may have been funded solely by USD, by INR, or by a mix.

Vidyarambam Easy Learning English and Easy Learning Mathematics: Vidyarambam's ELE and ELM classes were conducted with OPEN funding at 9 Government schools in Chennai. Principals at these schools welcome the extra help from Vidyarambam teachers towards meeting their educational outcome targets. Vidyarambam conduct diagnostic, mid-year, and year-end tests to measure the efficacy of their instruction. Starting in the academic year 2017-18, Vidyarambam's instruction was made a part of the regular school curricula, and the program was expanded from 5 months to the entire academic year. Total cost: $26,100. Number of children benefited: 1350.

IGNITE Post-Secondary Scholarships: This scholarship program for Vocational Polytechnic, Engineering, and 3-year Degree (B.Com, B.Sc, BCA etc) students is completely executed by OPEN. Number of students supported in 2017: 120. Cost: $16,100. We conducted a set of Communications development classes over 6 weekends in Jan-Feb 2018 that were attended by 50 students. These classes are geared towards soft skills such as public speaking, verbal communication in English, resume writing etc - skills that are not formally taught in college curricula but are essential for students to obtain jobs.

Ganapathy Iyer Girls’ High School: This is a Government-aided school run by the Gopalapuram Educational Society. OPEN continued its scholarship program at this school by funding scholarships for 100 under-privileged students for books/fees. We also fund operational expenses for after-school classes that teach students the Arts, Karate etc. The total cost of this program is $22,700 and it benefits 350 children.

Ashraya Trust: OPEN supports libraries at 6 schools, and Arts and Science clubs at 3 schools, run by the Ashraya Trust in rural Karnataka. The libraries aim to improve reading levels of schoolchildren by giving them the opportunity to borrow books at an appropriate reading level. The librarians monitor the number and reading levels of the books borrowed by each student. The bottom 20% of readers are given remedial reading instruction twice a week by a dedicated teacher. Top students in Science learn scientific principles through teacher-led experiments, and Arts students learn sketching, charcoal drawing, and mural painting from a local artist. Total cost of program: $7,200. Students benefited: 700.

Jaigopal Garodia Girls' School, Saidapet, Chennai: OPEN's first project, in 2003, was the construction of a kitchen for cooking the children's free lunch - the operational costs of lunch were provided by the government, but the school had to raise money on their own for kitchen construction. In 2017, OPEN provided $950 towards repair of this kitchen that it had constructed in 2003.

APR Charitable Trust: OPEN funds $1,700 for a math teacher to provide after-school instruction at schools supported by the APR Charitable Trust in Bangalore, India.

Samridhdhi Trust, Bangalore:Samridhdhi supports the education of the children of migrant workers and slum dwellers in Bangalore. They specialize in running bridge schools, which provide remedial instruction for these children so that they may catch up in education to their age-appropriate level. They also provide scholarships for children who graduate from these bridge schools to mainstream schools. OPEN provided $1,250 for scholarships and living expenses for 8 children.

Somasundaram school, located at Siravayal, Kallal Taluk, Sivagangai, Tamil Nadu, has a total of 90 students in classes from 1 - 8. The school has 4 teachers who are paid by the Government. OPEN pays for the salary of an additional staff member to teach English and Computer Classes. Cost: $700

Malleswaram Shishu Vihar, Bangalore: OPEN provides scholarships for 10 children at this school, which takes in slum children from Malleswaram, Bangalore. Cost: $3,600.

Turning Point Trust, Chennai: OPEN provides $2,350 towards after-school programs for slum children in Kannagi Nagar. The aim is to provide the children a safe space so that they may do homework and study after school. Number of children benefited: 100